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Zhao Guqin, the second daughter-in-law, was startled.
“How can that be?”
Lu Tiesheng glanced at her. “Why not? How much is a mu of paddy field, and how much is a mu of forest? You can calculate it yourselves. You can’t grow food in the forest, so you have to make up for it in other ways, right?”
Wang Xuelan also said, “Your father is right. It will take at least two or three years for those trees to mature. They’re not immediately valuable, and the lumber isn’t very valuable either. If you’re envious, you can choose the forest yourselves.”
Hearing this, everyone fell silent.
They hadn’t considered wanting the forest. They couldn’t grow food there, and it would take years for the trees to mature. What good would it be to them?
If the harvest was good, their paddy fields would match the income from selling trees in a year or two.
Tian Chunyan quickly asked, “Father, Mother, you said yesterday that the three families could choose first. Does that still count?”
“Since we said it, it naturally counts.” Lu Tiesheng said, turning to Yun Cuihe. “Yun Shi, your family has been separated for so long, and you haven’t been around your parents all these years. Today, we’ll let the other three families choose the land first. Do you have any objections?”
Yun Cuihe shook her head with a smile.
“Whatever Father arranges is fine. I have no objections.”
Receiving fifteen taels of silver was already an unexpected bonus. What objections could she possibly have?
Even if she ended up with the mountain of more than twenty mu, she would accept it.
Seeing Yun Cuihe’s understanding, Lu Tiesheng felt a sense of comfort. He turned to Wang Xuelan. “When we divide the chickens, give the third daughter-in-law’s family an extra one.”
Since the head of the family had spoken, Wang Xuelan naturally nodded.
“Alright.”
Next, the eldest and second families each took six mu of medium paddy fields, the fourth family took the four mu of superior paddy fields, and the mountain of more than twenty mu went to Yun Cuihe’s family.
Gaining a mountain out of nothing, though not very large, was still joyful. At least their family now had both fields and a mountain.
After dividing the land, Wang Xuelan went to catch the chickens.
Before Yun Cuihe’s family left, they took three chickens—two hens and a rooster—causing the eldest and second daughters-in-law to gossip behind their backs for a long time.
However, Chu Yue was overjoyed.
Last night, while eating the egg, she had been thinking about raising a few chickens at home for eggs, and she didn’t expect to realize that wish so quickly.
When they got home, Lu Xinghe hurriedly enclosed a space in a corner of the yard for the chickens, so they wouldn’t leave droppings all over the place, making the yard smell bad.
After setting up the chicken pen, he mixed clay and used wooden boards along with stones that he and Lu Xingping had gathered to build a sturdy chicken coop.
After all this fuss, it was already afternoon.
By evening, when the walls of the chicken coop had dried sufficiently, Lu Xinghe laid a thick layer of rice straw in the coop to prevent dampness.
Due to her foot injury, Chu Yue rested at home for the day. Her family wouldn’t let her do anything, so she felt quite bored and decided to find Yun Cuihe to learn some sewing skills.
However, embroidery requires both talent and patience.
After sitting for a day, Chu Yue didn’t want to sit again the next day.
Fortunately, her foot was much better by the third day. After having breakfast, she took a basket and went to the mountain with Lu Xinghe and his two brothers.
“Eldest sister-in-law, be careful, and don’t twist your ankle again,” Lu Xingping reminded her as they walked.
Lu Xing’an raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you wish for something good for your sister-in-law?”
Realizing he had misspoken, Lu Xingping stuck out his tongue.
“I’m just worried about sister-in-law’s foot!”
Looking at the two young boys, Chu Yue smiled. “It’s alright, I appreciate Xingping’s concern. I’ll be careful.”
After walking for a while, they arrived at a slightly sparse thicket. Suddenly, Lu Xingping pointed to a cluster of green plants not far away and asked, “Eldest sister-in-law, is that wild vegetables?”
Chu Yue looked in the direction he was pointing, approached the cluster of green leaves, squatted down, and after observing for a while, shook her head. “This is Ban Xia, a type of medicinal herb, but the whole plant is toxic. The toxicity is highest at the root, so it can’t be eaten as wild vegetables.”
Lu Xingping was surprised. “How can something toxic be used as medicine?”
“That’s why they say ‘medicine has three parts poison.’ Poison and medicine have always been intertwined. When used properly, poison can also be a good medicine.”
As Chu Yue spoke, she used her small hoe to dig up the Ban Xia tubers and placed them in her basket.
Lu Xinghe looked at Chu Yue, thinking that she must have learned this from the traveling doctor next door since she understood such principles.
This also meant that she had spent a considerable amount of time in the Wu family during her childhood and had interacted a lot with Wu Yong.
Moreover, her familiarity with medicinal herbs and pharmacology inevitably suggested that the Wu family had their own motives.
With this thought, Lu Xinghe suddenly felt a strange feeling spreading in his heart…
Lu Xingping waved to Lu Xinghe. “Eldest brother, there are many here too. Can you help me loosen the soil? Once it’s loose, I can dig out the tubers.”
“Alright.”
Lu Xinghe loosened the soil, while Lu Xingping and Lu Xing’an carefully dug out the small tubers one by one.
Before long, they had completely harvested all the Ban Xia plants in that area.
“Big brother, why don’t we go to our own mountain? We haven’t been there yet, let’s go check it out and get familiar with the area,” Lu Xingping suggested.
Lu Xinghe nodded.
“Alright.”
He walked ahead, leading the three of them towards the mountain that their grandparents had given to their family.
Their mountain wasn’t far from the village entrance. Standing on the slope, they could still vaguely see their grandparents’ old house.
As they reached this spot, Chu Yue’s gaze was drawn to a plant.
It grew near a large tree.
The plant was about ankle-high, with five palmate compound leaves. At the top, there was a cluster of bright red, flattened, round fruits.
Seeing Chu Yue’s expression, Lu Xing’an immediately asked, “Eldest sister-in-law, did you discover something else?”
This was the first time he had gone out with Chu Yue to dig herbs. He found his sister-in-law amazing; it seemed that there were no herbs in the mountains that she didn’t know.
Excitement shone on Chu Yue’s face. She swallowed hard.
“If I’m not mistaken, I’ve found something good.”
With that, she walked towards the plant.
The three brothers followed behind Chu Yue. They watched as she carefully dug with her small hoe.
“Eldest sister-in-law, what kind of treasure is this?” Lu Xingping asked, full of curiosity.
Lu Xinghe crouched down and took the small hoe from Chu Yue’s hand. “Let me help you.”
Chu Yue didn’t protest; she just reminded him, “Be careful not to hurt its roots. If ginseng is damaged, it won’t fetch a good price.”
Upon hearing it was ginseng, Lu Xinghe became even more cautious.
“This is ginseng?!” Lu Xingping exclaimed, his mouth slightly agape in surprise.
Lu Xing’an was equally astonished.
Lu Xingping had always said that his sister-in-law was lucky, but he hadn’t understood how lucky until now. Today, he had witnessed it firsthand.
Finding ginseng so casually was not something everyone could experience.
“Shh!” He raised a finger to Lu Xingping, lowering his voice. “Keep it down; don’t let anyone know. We don’t want to attract attention.”
Chu Yue didn’t object, only cautioning, “Be careful, don’t damage the roots. Once ginseng roots are damaged, they won’t fetch a good price.”